A PRESENTATION ON DEALER SATISFACTION(DEALER EQ STUDY) FROM

By ARINDAM CHATTERJEE (PG 09-019)

INTRODUCTION
 ACC (ACC Limited) is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete.  It has 16 modern cement factories, more than 40 Ready mix concrete plants, 20 sales offices and several zonal offices and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000 dealers.  Formed in August 1, 1936 when Ten existing cement companies came together in a historic merger- Tatas, Khataus, Killick Nixon and F E Dinshaw groups.  Highest market share in the market 12% .  ACC LTD has achieved many awards and it awarded Super brand status the only company in the cement industry - by Super brands India Council .  It manufactures different types of cement like Ordinary Portland Cement, Blended Cement, Ready mix concrete and bulk cements.

OBJECTIVES OF MY PROJECT
1. Assessing the needs, requirements, and expectations of cement dealers from the company (ACC LTD). 2. To determine the current satisfaction level of dealers across various brands. 3. To comparatively measure the level of satisfaction possessed by dealers of ACC with other existing companies.

4. To determine the brand image of ACC in the minds of the dealers.

INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC

ACC LAKSHYA to satisfy the Dealers the company has launched a program,
named as Lakshya Program. All direct dealers of ACC selling minimum 30 MT of all Brands are eligible for this program.

What is the ACC Lakshya Program? a. Lakshya means target where both ACC and its channel partner are aiming high. b. Points Earning mechanism. c. Points Burning mechanism. d. It has five tiers (Blue, Red, Silver, Gold, and Platinum), so apart from earning, the channel partners upgrades him to a next higher level where he earns more points and bonus rewards.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Primary Data Collection Personal Interview. Secondary Data CollectionInternet & Magazines.

SAMPLE SIZE CALCULATION Total Sample Size- 60 dealers.  Both Multibrand Dealers and Privileged Dealers.  I applied the Statistical Tools- STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING STRATEGY ACC LTDTotal sales (Approx.) = 80000 Tones / per month. Shalimar & Kharagpur Warehouses = 40000 Cossipore & Nadia Warehouses = 26000 Kalighat Warehouse = 14000 Total Dealer = 600 approx.

CALCULATIONShalimar & Kharagpur Warehouses = 40000/80000*100 = 50 % Cossipore & Nadia Warehouses = 26000/80000*100 =32.5% Kalighat Warehouses = 14000/80000*100 = 17.5% My Sample size = 60 (10 % of total 600 dealers) So, I did survey, Shalimar & Kharagpur Warehouses = 50% of 60 = 30 dealers Cossipore & Nadia Warehouses = 32.5% of 60 = 20 dealers Kalighat Warehouses = 17.5% of 60 = 10 dealers.

Method of AnalysisThe data gathered has been analyzed and elaborated graphically on a questionby-question basis. In the case of 33 Multibrand Dealers, I only consider Top box responses (Excellent & good) and avoid Middle box (fair) & Bottom box responses (bad, worst).After that I plot the bar chart and analysis the bar chart. On the other hand, in the case of 27 Privileged Dealers I consider all the three, i.e. Top box, Middle box, Bottom box responses.

Area visited
Shalimar & Kharagpur Warehouses-

I visited different places of Howrah and Hooghly districts in West Bengal, such as, Domjur, Bargram, Andul, Sankrail, Bagnan, Singur, Chandannagar etc.
Cossipore & Nadia Warehouses-

I visited different places in Kolkata such as, Barrackpore, Sodepur, Belgharia, Baranagar, Naihati, Barasat etc.
Kalighat Warehouses-

I visited several places in South Kolkata such as Jadavpur, Garia, Behala, Alipore, and Jodhpur Park etc.

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

2. PRODUCT PACKAGING-

MULTIBRAND

PRIVILEGED

3. ORDER & DELEVERY30 25

LAFARGE
ACC Delivery as per Delivery as per Delivery of stocks Behavior of Delivery at order quantity scheduled time in urgent transporter desired place for situations free/with some cost

OTHER

4. EXPERIENCE WITH C & F Agent

5. Commercial Terms

6. ADVERTISING / PROMOTIONS

7. EXPERIENCE WITH SALES PERSONNEL-

8. EXPERIENCE WITH CS TEAM/TECHNICAL ENGINEERING-

9. COMPANY IMAGE-

FINDINGS
 Maximum numbers of dealers feel that Order & Delivery and Product & Packaging are the most important factors for their business.  The dealers feel that ACC Ltd is the most prestigious company to deal with than other existing companies.  The company is able to establish a strong brand image in the dealers mind.  Significant numbers of dealers are very satisfied with the overall quality of the cement.  The dealers are also very impressed with the companys sales personnel and their service.  Maximum numbers of dealers are not too much satisfied with the companys C&F Agent and CS Team/Technical Eng.  Most of the dealers are not satisfied from the profits which they earn from ACC cement.  The cement dealers feel that the promotional activities of other cement companies are much better than ACC Ltd.  The Privileged dealers are more satisfied than Multibrand dealers.

RECOMMENDATIONS
 Most of the dealers feel that the cement bag is not so strong like the other existing companys bag. So the company should improve the packaging of the product. They should offer the strong cement bags to avoid complaints from the dealers.  Order & Delivery is one of the very important factors for a dealer to deal a business. In this particular area ACC Ltd should have to improve. To become a leader in this area they have to deliver the products as per scheduled time.  Many dealers are not satisfied from the companys C&F Agent and CS Team/Technical Eng. So the company has to improve in this area. This can be done by a regular & proactive communication with dealers.  The company can increase their promotional activity with the help of effective advertisement, sales promotion and public relation to satisfy the dealers.  Significant numbers of dealers are not too much satisfied from the profit margins which they earn from the ACC cement. So the company should keep it in their mind and implement some strategy so that the dealers can get some extent much profit in future.